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Resolved Question

Strange sound from laptop, is it normal or a problem?

<div>sound link</div>
My laptop makes this sound from the moment it's switched on and all throughout using, until the laptop is off. It's not a loud noise- it's a low-medium volume but it's DEFINITELY noticeable to me the whole time I'm using it. It seems to come from under the keyboard area. I can have no programs open and the sound is there. The laptop bottom feels a bit warm.
This laptop is manufacturer refurbished, it's new (only got it 2 days ago) and I have warranty. The sound is annoying but the laptop performance is fine, so is the sound normal or a symptom of a problem?
Asus E402SA-WX060T
Windows 10, intel celeron n3150, 4gb ram, 500gb hdd, no dvd drive

Discussion is locked

anja_suxian-28135604294473618582860470617475 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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To this sounds like the hard disk noise.
May 2, 2018 9:00AM PDT

Nothing sounds wrong here. But this is partially why SSD is so sought after. Less noise but more complaints about fan noise.

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Thanks

Oh ok. I've only ever had a ssd laptop and that was completely silent so this noise was really weird to me.

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That makes sense now.
May 3, 2018 8:18AM PDT

Imagine a poor soul that drove a car today and then got a ride in a Ford Model T. That's about what is happening here.

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Answer
Sound
May 3, 2018 9:49PM PDT

If that sound is disk activity and it's never ending you might want to investigate what's causing all this activity.

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Answer
Two possibilities
May 5, 2018 7:30AM PDT

1. It could be a problem with the disk drive -- it should not be making so much sound. If it is the disk drive this would be a good excuse to replace it with an SSD -- and quickly! If it crashes, your data could go away. I find this less likely, though. If it is your disk drive it indicates that the head is zipping back and forth feverishly -- most HDD failures are predicted by a very different sound, more like the whooshing of a jet turbine.

2. It could be some internal component like a wire coming into contact with the cooling fan. You would be surprised how common this problem is.

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could be the fan
May 6, 2018 10:33AM PDT

Exactly. It could be the HDD making this sound or (and I think more common) the fan. It must not be an wire....normally its just dirty and one has to open the laptop and clean the fan. I have already done this several times and this was normally the reason for the noise.

A tip: it is also possible to turn off fan in the BIOS. If the noise is still there, then its the HDD generating this noise...anyways...if you are used to have an SSD, then the noise is maybe just the normal noise of a functional HDD Wink ask someone else who's got also a laptop with HDD Wink